Child Labor In Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Cry Of The Children

Child labor, something restricted with laws in order to enforce the disbandment of any unfair practices, but it was not always this way. The Industrial Revolution took many countries by storm. It called rural folks into the city with it’s sweet song of jobs and good pay. Or at least that is what happened at first. Cities became more and more overcrowded as the wave of people moving into these urban areas to the point that jobs became more and more difficult to acquire, let alone keep. On top of that, factory owners had begun to employ children for shady reasons. Three children, more or less, could be employed for the same cost as one working man. They could use their small hands/bodies to fit into small spaces and fix something if needed. A double whammy for owners! The only problem with this is the effects on said children working. They would be working …show more content…
Elizabeth Barrett Brown chastises the factory owners, also known as Captains of Industry, on their unfair and unrestricted use of child labor through her use of vivid diction and imagery in “Cry of the …show more content…
“”True,’ say the children, ‘it may happen That we die before our time.” (Browning 37-38) It is expected of older folks to pass away, after all, they have lived their life. It is not common, however, for people to fall into their graves when they reside in the age range of mere children. Many of the little employees work to the point that they die long before it should have been their time because of the exhaustion from their day jobs. “‘It is good when it happens… that we die before our time.” (Browning 51-52) The worst part about all this is that some children would consider is a blessing if they are able to pass away and finally come to an eternal rest, or at least that is Mrs. Barrett Browning has written in this